Meadow Farm Museum and Crump Park

The Meadow Farm Museum was left to Henrico County by the Crump family, which had farmed it since before the Civil War. Still standing, this historic farm holds an assortment of animals and serves as an educational tool for people of all ages to learn about the agricultural history of the area. In addition to the farm, there are numerous stands of deciduous and some coniferous woodlands interspersed among the open fields. Check the utility lines along the park entrance for the resident eastern bluebirds that serve as the farm’s welcome committee. These lines are particularly interesting in late summer and fall when they can be lined with small groups of parents showing their newly fledged chicks the bluebird ropes.

Once you wander into the forest, listen for Carolina wrens and downy woodpeckers along with the trilling of pine warblers. Gray squirrels won’t be far away and can usually be heard scampering up trees just out of view. Along the western edge of the park a small pond regularly hosts Canada geese, mallards, and domestic ducks.

A green heron hides out in a pond-side tree. Photo Credit: Lisa Mease/DWR

Great blue herons sometime drop in to dine here, leaving their massive footprints in the mud along the shoreline. Thankful to have made it another day without being someone’s prey, eastern painted turtles bask along the pond’s shores and green frogs make their presence known with a loud plop as they disappear into the muck at the bottom of the pond. Very early in the morning or just as twilight begins to fade, check for raccoons out in search of frog snacks.